Detroit welcomes back former Tiger Scott Sizemore with a pitch to his jaw

AP PhotoOakland Athletics third baseman and former Detroit Tiger Scott Sizemore had to leave Tuesday's game when he was hit by a pitch from Rick Porcello during the fourth inning.

Scott Sizemore has to be wondering if Detroit holds some kind of curse over him.

After being anointed the second baseman of the future before the 2010 season — and having to succeed the popular and productive Placido Polanco — Sizemore's career with the Detroit Tigers resulted in continual disappointment.

It's not like he didn't deserve the opportunity. Through four minor league seasons, Sizemore hit consistently. (His career average in the minors sits exactly at .300.) No, he wasn't going to offer the package of offensive and defensive skills that Polanco provided. But this is why teams develop prospects, to eventually take over for veteran talent that becomes either overpriced or diminished. It's a risk every team takes.

The Tigers thought they had a player ready to take over for Polanco. Obviously, that turned out to be wrong. Polanco has continued to be a productive player for the Philadelphia Phillies, and was named to the National League All-Star team this year. (He's also doing this while playing third base, a position where the Tigers could also use some help right now.)

And, for whatever reason, Sizemore's minor league success was never able to translate into major league production with the Tigers. He often looked overmatched, perhaps weighed down by the pressure of having to replace such an established player. Every time the Tigers would give him a chance to entrench himself at second base, Sizemore's lack of production squandered the opportunity.

(Some will point out that Sizemore only got a total of 237 plate appearances with the Tigers, approximately the equivalent of half a season. That's a fair argument, but there's also something to be said with producing enough to justify staying in the lineup. Sizemore's cumulative batting average in Detroit was .223, with an OPS of .612.)

It just wasn't happening for him here. This isn't always something that can be explained. Saying a player needs a "change of scenery" often sounds trite, but there's often some merit to it. The Oakland Athletics certainly thought it applied to Sizemore and took him off the Tigers' hands in a trade that some fans still love to bring up whenever the team's struggles at second base come up in conversation.

(I understand wanting to give a player with presumed upside a chance. Especially when seeing Ryan Raburn constantly boot balls at second base. Getting yet another left-handed reliever was kind of a buzzkill, too. But the outrage over that trade was almost comical.

Maybe I was paying attention to a vocal minority on Twitter and the MLive comments, but you'd think the Tigers traded Chase Utley. Based on the uproar, I made hotel reservations in Cooperstown for 2026, when Sizemore will apparently be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Fight overreaction with overreaction!)

Whether it's because he didn't feel the pressure of replacing Polanco or had his confidence restored by having a new team believe in him, Sizemore has found success with Oakland. (Perhaps he hinted at the problem when admitting to the San Francisco Chronicle that Oakland was "less intense" than Detroit.)

He's hitting like the Tigers and their fans hoped he would in Detroit, compiling a .264/.325/.418 average to go with four home runs and 15 RBIs. And like Polanco, he's also doing this at third base -- a position where the Tigers could also use some help right now.

So Sizemore was probably feeling pretty good about himself when his new team visited his old team at Comerica Park Tuesday night. Maybe this would be a chance to show the Tigers' front office and coaching staff (as well as those fans who dared question his destined greatness) that they'd made a mistake in giving up on him. Batting fifth in the lineup for the A's — a prime run-producing spot — Sizemore was in an ideal position to stick it to his former team.

That is, until he took a pitch to the face.

Sizemore struck out looking in his first at-bat, perhaps demonstrating that you can take the player out of Detroit, but can't take the Detroit out of the player. But his second time up, with two runners on, Sizemore squared around to bunt. But Rick Porcello's rode up and in, completely missing the bat and going all the way to his jaw. (Watch the play here.)

It's a scary moment whenever a player gets hit by a pitch above the neck, so I certainly don't intend to make light of what happened. Fortunately, the left earflap on Sizemore's helmet appears to have protected him from serious damage. X-rays taken after the game showed no fracture and Sizemore is listed as day-to-day. (It's likely he's not playing Wednesday night, though.)

But though his postgame comments focused on whether he was OK, Sizemore had to wonder if there's just something about Detroit that has it out for him. Even when he's playing well for another team, the game literally rides up and smacks him in the face. And of course, it happened at Comerica Park, where his major league future once looked in doubt.

The Tigers and A's play each other again in mid-September, this time out in Oakland. Maybe Sizemore will get to show his former team something then. (He may even get to play spoiler, depending on where the Tigers are in the playoff race.) Stories like Sizemore's, with someone who kept at it until he found success, are one of the things that make baseball fun to follow. Sometimes, the setting just has to change to get the story right.